Parotid cancer: analysis of preoperative parameters for adaptation of the therapeutic strategy

To establish typical clinical and radiological profiles of primary low-grade parotid cancers in order to tailor therapeutic strategy.

Retrospective study of 57 patients operated on for primary parotid cancer between 2010 and 2021, with review of preoperative MRI and histopathology according to a standardized scoring grid.

To study prognostic factors and determine the preoperative clinical and radiological profile of low-grade cancers.

Good prognostic factors for specific survival were: staging ≤ cT3 (p = 0.014), absence of adenopathy on cN0 MRI (p < 0.001), superficial lobe location (p = 0.033), pN0 (p < 0.001), absence of capsular rupture (p = 0.004), as well as the absence of peri-tumoral nodules (p = 0.033), intra-parotid adenopathies (p < 0.001), vascular emboli (p < 0.001), peri-neural sheathing (p = 0.016), nuclear atypia (p = 0.031), and necrosis (p = 0.002). It was not possible to define a reliable clinical and radiological profile for low-grade cancers (sensitivity 38%, specificity 79%).

Our study demonstrated multiple factors of good prognosis, but it was not possible to define a clinical and radiological profile of patients likely to benefit from more limited surgery, nor to diagnose, a priori, low-grade cancers.